Mom killed daughter, 4, by feeding her weight loss program of Mountain Dew

An Ohio mother was jailed after admitting to killing her four-year-old daughter by feeding her a diet of baby bottles filled with Mountain Dew. 

Tamara Banks, 41, was sentenced to up to 13 and a half years in prison this week after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter over the death of her daughter Karmity Hoeb in January 2022. 

Karmity passed away in hospital after suffering complications related to diabetes, as a prosecutor described it as ‘one of the most tragic cases I have ever encountered.’ Her teeth had rotted away by the time she died. 

The little girl’s father, Christopher Hoeb, 53, also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on June 11. 

Tamara Banks, 41, was sentenced to up to 13 and a half years in prison this week after admitting to killing her four-year-old daughter by feeding her nothing but baby bottles filled with Mountain Dew

Karmity Hoeb, 4, passed away in January 2022 from complications due to untreated diabetes, and suffered further medical issues related to her teeth being dissolved by an all-sugar diet 

The little girl can be seen being cuddled by her father – who was also convicted of her death – in front of a coffee table loaded with Mountain Dew and junk food 

Another harrowing photo shows Karmity posing for a photo with her mother while displaying teeth rotted away by her Mountain Dew diet 

Banks pleaded guilty in March, after prosecutors indicted both her and Karmity’s father with a number of charges including murder and child endangerment. Their guilty pleas on involuntary manslaughter meant the other charges were dropped. 

Karmity died at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center after being raced there when she began showing symptoms related to her untreated type-1 diabetes. 

The girl suffered horrific neglect throughout her young life, and was denied medical care and proper nutrition despite showing signs of severe medical complications, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Days before her death, prosecutors said Karmity suffered from a ‘serious medical issue’, but her parents failed to call for help or take her to an emergency room. 

Her symptoms deteriorated until she turned blue and stopped breathing, and only then did Banks call 911. Medics were able to briefly revive her, but scans found she was brain dead. 

Karmity’s cause of death was listed as diabetic ketoacidosis which spread to her brain, with prosecutors condemning Banks and Hoeb as her death could have been prevented if they helped her untreated diabetes. 

Karmity is seen in a tribute photo in the kitchen of her family home close to a huge case of Mountain Dew 

‘This child did not have to die,’ concluded Clermont County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Clay Tharp. 

The neglect Karmity suffered was even more harrowing because Banks also had a number of health issues, and evidence showed that she took efforts to meet her own medical needs while ignoring her daughter’s. 

This included regularly refilling her own prescriptions and scheduled doctors to visit her apartment for various illnesses. 

Alongside the four-year-old’s diabetes, Karmity also suffered from a condition that caused her teeth to dissolve because her mother would feed her almost exclusively Mountain Dew from a baby bottle. 

A regular 12-ounce can of Mountain Dew contains almost 50 grams of sugar. 

Prosecutors added that Karmity was continually fed through baby bottles long after she should have been weaned off them, and there was no evidence that Banks ever took her to see a dentist. 

The lack of medical care was all the more shocking because Banks had several older children who were neglected and malnourished, including a son with undiagnosed diabetes that caused him to fall into a coma. 

That son recovered, but prosecutors said Banks would still fail to help him and never took him to any follow-up hospital meetings after he was revived from the coma. 

At her sentencing hearing this week, Judge Victor Haddad pointed to her son’s previous condition as a reason that she should have known to help Karmity. 

Karmity’s father, Christopher Hoeb, 53, also pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and is set to be sentenced on June 11

Prosecutor’s condemned Banks for failing to give Karmity any form of medical care while routinely tending to her own 

‘It’s hard to be a good parent but you expect at least mediocre parents, everybody should expect that,’ he told her. ‘Not knowing what to do is not an excuse.’ 

Shockingly, Karmity’s online obituary includes a tribute written by Banks and Hoeb, where they spoke of their love for their daughter and wrote that she had a happy childhood despite the evidence of abuse and neglect. 

‘Our precious daughter Karmity Faythe Hoeb that we nicknamed Boogie which suited her personality because she loved to be silly,’ the grammatically-incorrect obituary read. 

‘She also loved looking at herself in the mirror because she knew how beautiful and special she was. 

‘Smart and Vibrant. The camera loved her almost as much as she loved smiling real big and saying cheese. Each day she woke up full of joy and love. 

‘Every day she was playing with her Mickey buddies and racing her cars. She touched everyone that ever laid eyes on her or spent any time with her. She will always be remembered as our daughter, our guardian angel now.’